PANAMA CITY — As a 9-year-old watching the headressed “Chief Osceola” plunge a flaming spear into the midfield turf of Florida State University’s stadium, Caleb Joshua Halley dreamed of one day being outfitted as the school’s mascot, family members said Monday.
Halley, who was known to family and friends as Josh, achieved his dream and rode bareback atop Renegade, the Seminole chief’s horse, longer than most others; but his life came to an abrupt end last week after being stabbed at a local seafood market, allegedly following an argument over gumbo seasoning, according to police reports.
Family members remembered Halley, a Panama City native, as an avid outdoorsman and survivalist with an inviting smile and a big heart — a large part of which was dedicated to FSU and the mascot program.
“He wanted to be Chief Osceola since he was 9 years old,” said Stephanie Halley, Josh Halley’s stepmother. “We’d go to the paddock to watch them put makeup on the chief, and, at 10, he met with the director who said he definitely looked the part.”
Josh Halley felt an immense sense of pride in preceding every FSU home game, partly due to his Creek and Seminole heritage, family members said. He was one of only 17 FSU students to embody the historical Chief Osceola and was tied with one other student as the second-longest to hold the position of Chief Osceola, his term spanning the 2004-2007 football seasons.
“Josh just loved the tradition and physicality of the mascot program,” said Gene Halley, his father. “He loved being in the Osceola program working with horses and training them.”
Josh Halley was particularly proud of helping reinitiate the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity that his father started while the elder attended FSU.
Josh Halley coached a youth football team, was the first president of Washington County SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco) group and was awarded the Lawton Chiles Youth Advocacy Award while he was a student at Chipley High School. He also loved nature and could regularly be found with friends in and around the Chipola River, family members said.
“Everywhere he went he made friendships around him,” Stephanie Halley said. “People just held him in high regard, and he had the most charming, prettiest smile.”
Halley, 33, died two days after his co-worker, 26-year-old Orlando Thompson, allegedly stabbed him at about 4 p.m. Tuesday behind Buddy’s Seafood Market, 111 S. State 79, according to Panama City Beach Police Department reports.
Police said an argument about how much seasoning to put in the restaurant’s gumbo escalated into an armed confrontation. Video from the business shows the argument subsiding before Thompson went back inside. He returned with a 15-inch blade and began slicing and lunging at Halley, police reported.
Halley suffered three lacerations, including one from which his intestines protruded, according to PCBPD records. He died two days later.
The charge against Thompson was then upgraded from aggravated battery with a deadly weapon to manslaughter. He is being held on a $75,000 bond. Thompson declined to comment for this article.
Family members said friends and relatives from Blountstown and beyond will amass for Josh Halley’s funeral Tuesday at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Chipley.
“We are all devastated,” Stephanie Halley said. “There is a big hole in all our lives.”